Lord of the XII Legion – A Triptych, pt. 5

And so, after a short interlude, we are actually back to Angron: Today I actually intend to deliver on the “Triptych” part of this mini-series, as I show you my completed conversion of Angron in full-on gladiator mode, based on one of the plastic Slaughterpriest models. I already showed you the conversion in the very fist post of this series:

Interestingly enough, the other version of the Slaughterpriest – the one that was recently included as a pretty awesome giveaway with the first issue of the new White Dwarf – seems to be more more popular at the moment, and it would make for a pretty cool base model for an Angron conversion as well — but the original Slaughterpriest has that wonderfully angry face which made me think of Angron in the first place 😉

As a matter of fact, when I fist discussed this conversion, I completely forgot to mention another model that had been a huge inspiration for this project: PDH’s brilliantly disturbing “Pursser-Sin”, a true scale Emperor’s Children Marine he built for his excellent Slaneeshi INQ28 warband:

Pursser-Sin by PDH

Peter just has an excellent eye for original conversions, and this one really made me consider using the Slaughterpriest as a Primarch model for the first time — of course there’s also the fact that his turning a Khornate model into a Slaneeshi dog is the biggest possible heresy, so I hope my Angron conversion balances this out a bit… 😉

But anyway, I was really itching to get my plastic Angron painted, so I jumped right in: The first step was to block out all the different basecoat colours:

I decided to use the same recipe for bronze armour between this model and my Daemon-Primarch version of Angron, to create a bit of visual continuity between both models, so I used the exact same steps to paint the various parts of the armour.

The skin recipe is based on Rakarth Flesh as a basecoat — as are all my recipes for human skin. Since the model represents Angron in fairly healthy shape, however, I decided to make his skin look a bit healthier than the tone I usually use on my chaotic models. So I tweaked the recipe a bit, using the following steps:

GW Rakarth Flesh was used for the basecoat.

the entire skin area was then washed liberally with GW Ogryn Flesh (I loaded up on that wash while it was still available, although I imagine GW Reikland Fleshshade would have worked just as well).

the skin was then given a thin coat of GW Cadian Fleshtone for a slightly healthier look

At this point I already had a reasonably convincing flesh tone. However, I went one step further and used a mix of GW Carroburg Crimson and GW Druchii Violet to create shadows and distressed looking skin in select areas, especially around Angron’s cranial implants, around the metallic spine and on his “Triumph Rope” chest scar, giving these areas some extra pop.

Here’s the model with most of the paintjob already in place:

I was definitely getting somewhere, but I wasn’t perfectly happy yet. So I decided to set the model aside for a moment and work on the base instead for a change of pace.

Since the model is supposed to represent Angron either uring his days as a gladiator on his “homeworld” Nuceria or during a sparring match in the Conqueror’s fighting pits, I really wanted the base to have the texture of a sany arena floor. In order to get the texture just right, I decided to try something new and picked up a pot of Vallejo’s Sandy Paste:

Going for a completely unfamiliar tool like this was a bit of a gamble, of course, but fortunately enough, the paste was extremely easy to work with: After getting an idea of what I was up against from this helpful YouTube tutorial, I was able to add it to the base and create the right texture using an old hobby knife. I also decided to add two discarded pieces of gladiatorial equipment half-buried in the sand. A shield from the WFB Vampire Counts Skeletons and a gladiator helmet from MaxMini that Augustus b’Raass had sent me a while ago provided the perfect pieces for the look I wanted. A part of the helmet was carefully shaved off to create a half-buried look. Both bitz were pressed into the still soft paste. Here’s what the base looked like after this step:

I also carefully pressed the model into the paste while everything was still drying, in order to create believable indentations in the sand around his left foot and the pile of skulls his right foot is resting on. Then the base was painted and the mostly finished model was glued to it before I tackled the finishing touches.

To be perfectly honest, there was a stretch during the painting where I wasn’t quite sure whether or not everything was really coming together. In the end, however, a couple of factors really pulled the various parts of the paintjob together:

I added some rather subtle blood spatter to Angron’s axes, his armour and to his chest and legs, making it look as though he had just messily vanquished a foe (or ten…). This really added that extra bit of realism to the model that I needed.

Once Angron had been glued to the base, his feet and the bottom of his loincloth were carefully drybrushed with the same sandy colour I had used for the base, and once again, this added some realism to the model and made it look more grounded.

And finally, the model really started looking like Angron once the trademark facial tattoos were in place: I even painted the markings around his eyes, even though I had been slightly nervous about that area beforehand.

So without further ado, here’s the second part of my Triptych about the Lord of the XII Legion:

Angron Thal’Kr, Lord of the Red Sands

“Come and die, dogs of Desh’ea! I am Angron of the pits, born in blood, raised in the dark, and I will die free! Come, watch me fight one last time! Is that not what you want? Is that not what you always wanted?
Come closer, you dog-blooded cowards!”

Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Betrayer

Like I said on my previous post on the matter, the metallic spine doesn’t appear in the official fluff, of course, but is rather a feature of the Slaughterpriest model. But I really liked the disturbingly crude nature of it and thought it would perfectly match the brutally invasive style of the cranial implants Angron had received on Nuceria, so I decided to keep it. The same element also appears on my Daemon-Primarch version of Angron. Oh, and I made sure to make the skin on either side look suitably bruised and inflamed…

All in all, I am really vey happy with the finished model, and I do think the guy really reads as Angron now! To wit, here’s another look at that cover artwork of “Butcher’s Nails” that served as an important piece for reference during the painting process:

And here’s a closer look at the model’s face, an area that I am pretty happy with:

To allow you to accurately gauge the model’s bulk and size, here are some comparison pictures showing Angron next to…

…one of his power-armoured sons:

… Forgeworld’s official Angron model, the still-to-be-painted third and final part of my Triptych 😉

…and finally, the three 30k World Eaters I have managed to paint so far:

So yeah, I am pretty happy with how the second part of this project has turned out! Two down, one to go — well, one and a half, really, because there’s also the rest of Daemon-Primarch Angron’s base left to finish, of course…

Before I wind up this post, allow me to point you in the direction of two related projects from fellow hobbyists. In both cases, I only discovered these models while I was already working on my own, but they are still fantastic alternate interpretations of the same character and archetype — and both happen to be based on the same Slaughterpriest model as well!

First up, there’s Calle’s Angron, a version that is pretty similar in approach to my own, but even more visceral:

Angron conversion by Calle

Calle shared his model in the comments to one of my previous posts, but since I really love his take on Angron, I felt it definitely deserved a proper shout out!

And then there’s Reg, whose Daemon-Primarch Angron was instrumental for my own version. Now wouldn’t you know it, he seems to be at least one step ahead of me yet again, building not only another fantastic rendition of the big man himself, but also an entire gang of Angron’s Nucerian gladiator buddies as well. Nuts!

Angron and his gladiators by Reg

These are just incredible — I can’t even…
Now if Reg would pnly answer to the PM I wrote to him on Dakka…
Anyway, I am a huge, huge fan of these!

And so another post on the Lord of the XII Legion comes to a close. In closing, I have one final image to share with you, an impression of how Angron might have looked in the arena of Desh’ea. It goes without saying that I would love to hear any feedback you might have! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Oh man, I would love to give some constructive feedback, but it just looks so good…! Love the facial tattoos and the metal spine!
There’s a couple of interesting techniques that I might have to steal (the light dry brush of the base colour on the feet/loincloth, for example). Also interesting to see the Vallejo sandy paste in action – I’ve got some experience of the black lava paste, which is lovely, but obviously a lot coarser (mostly used it on terrain thus far).
I think one of the things I love about your blog is the inspirational tangents it sends me thinking in – I know I’ll be trying to work out what model would make a good base for a Horus kitbash on the cheap when I’m working tomorrow (it’s fine, I can multitask!)

Thanks for the kind words! The light drybrushing of the feet with the colour used for the base is an extremely simple and ridiculously effective way of making the model look more realistic. It also works really well on cloth items, such as loincloths or long coats.
The Sandy Paste was pretty awesome, and I can definitely see myself using it regularly in my basing from now on.
As for the inspirational tangents, that’s a sweet compliment right there, because that’s definitely an effect I am trying to achieve! 😉

Holy crap, that looks phenomenal. I love him. I am so glad you chose to add the ‘triumph rope.’ I love that piece of fluff yet have not seen anyone really using that on the WE models with exposed flesh bits. Cheers on that. The face looks great, the tats really shine. The paint job is spot on. I could really just keep going on and on about how awesome this turned out.

Thanks, Andrew! For the record, all of my barechested World Eaters – including the chaos spawn – have a Triumph Rope. It’s never expressly pointed out in the official lore that the World Eaters picked up on this tradition, but I like to imagine they did.

Wow buddy. Angron looks phenomenal. I really like the highlights on the loincloth going up to the pink. You’ve finished him off perfectly with that base, brilliant. I cannot wait to see the FW Angron painted in your brass colour. I bet you’ll feel on top of the world/elated when you finish the triptych. Ah you’ve found the sandy paste, its good stuff been using it for years.

Thanks for the shout out and the sacrilege of putting a member of the Emperor’s Children on Eternal Hunt!

Thanks a lot, Peter! I have to admit the highlights on the loincloth were a bit of a happy accident, as I drybrushed some of the colour used for the base on the lowest parts of the cloth, and did end up with those rather nice highlights as a consequence. As for the Sandy Paste, I am really happy with the stuff so far, and after using it I noticed the telltale texture on some of your bases as well — anyway, such an effective and easy to use material!

As for the bronze colour, I am actually contemplating using something more golden on the Forgeworld Angron, as I fear the bronze recipe I’ve used on the other two versions might not be up to the task. But then there’s also the visual continuity to consider. Argh, choices…

Fantastic work with gladiator Angron! He matches my image of Angron perfectly. I love the extra effort you put into his base; the helm and the sand really help set the scene. The war paint is a great touch too.

I knew I needed to get the base just right for the gladiator look to really click –fortunately enough, the Sandy Paste worked like a charm. So much so, in fact, that I think I’ll beusing it on the rest of my 30k World Eaters as well!

As for the warpaint, that’s the detail that really turned the model into Angron for me — strange, but there you have it 😉

[…] my favourite achievements from last year were two versions of Angron I managed to build and paint: One representing the XII Primarch during his days as a gladiator, the other an interpretation of his […]